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Chapter 2
Introduction to Financial Statement Analysis

2-1. In a firm’s annual report, five financial statements can be found: the balance sheet, the income statement, the
statement of cash flows, the statement of stockholders’ equity, and the statement of comprehensive income.
Financial statements in the annual report are required to be audited by a neutral third party, who checks and
ensures that the financial statements are prepared according to GAAP (or IFRS) and that the information
contained is reliable.

2-2. Users of financial statements include present and potential investors, financial analysts, and other interested
outside parties (such as lenders, suppliers and other trade creditors, and customers). Financial managers
within the firm also use the financial statements when making financial decisions.
Investors: Investors are concerned with the risk inherent in and return provided by their investments.
Bondholders use the firm’s financial statements to assess the ability of the company to make its debt payments.
Shareholders use the statements to assess the firm’s profitability and ability to make future dividend payments.
Financial analysts: Financial analysts gather financial information, analyze it, and make recommendations.
They read financial statements to determine a firm’s value and project future earnings, so that they can provide
guidance to businesses and individuals to help them with their investment decisions.
Managers: Managers use financial statement to look at trends in their own business, and to compare their
own results with that of competitors.

2-3. Each method will help find the same filings. Yahoo finance also provides some analysis such as charts and
key statistics. For Canadian filings, www.sedar.com is the preferred source.

2-4.
a. Long-term liabilities would decrease by $20 million, and cash would decrease by the same amount. The
book value of equity would be unchanged.
b.
Inventor
y would
decrease
by $5
million,
as
would
the book
value of
equity.
 c. Long-term assets would increase by $10 million; cash would decrease by $5 million and long-term
liabilities would increase by $5 million. There would be no change to the book value of equity.
d. Accounts receivable would decrease by $3 million, as would the book value of equity.
e. This event would not affect the balance sheet.
f. This event would not affect the balance sheet.

2-5. Global Conglomerate’s book value of equity increased by $1 million from 2014 to 2015. An increase in book
value does not necessarily indicate an increase in Global’s share price. The market value of a stock does not
depend on the historical cost of the firm’s assets, but on investors’ expectation of the firm’s future
performance. There are many events that may affect Global’s future profitability, and hence its share price,
that do not show up on the balance sheet.

Copyright ©Copyright © 2015

2015 Pearson Pearson
Canada Inc. Canada Inc.
4 Chapter32rd Canadian
Solutions Manual for Berk/DeMarzo/Stangeland • Corporate Finance, Introduction to Financial Statement Analysis
Edition 4

2-6.

a. $5,462 million (cash) and $6,190 million (short-term investments/marketable securities) for a total of
$11,652 million

b. $993 million of accounts receivable

c. $36,422 million of total assets

d. $9,450 million of total liabilities, no debt

e. $26,972 million of book value of equity

2-7.
a. Cash: $126.5 million
b. Total assets: $2,203.95 million
c. Total liabilities: $1,049.5 million; long-term debt: $352.4 million
d. Book value of Tim Hortons’ equity: $1,154.43 million

2-8.
a. 2005 market capitalization: 10.6 billion shares × $36.00/share = $381.6 billion. 2009 market
capitalization: 10.5 billion shares × $10.80/share = $113.4. The change over the period is $113.4 –
$381.6 = –$268.2 billion.

b. 2005 market-to-book = 381.6 = 3.38 . 2009 market-to-book = 113.4 = 1.08 . The change over the
113 105
period is: 1.08 – 3.38 = -2.3.
370 524
c. 2005 book debt–equity = = 3.27 . 2009 book debt–equity = = 4.99 . The change over the
113 105
period is: 4.99 – 3.27 = 1.72.

2005 market debt–equity = 370 = 0.97 . 2009 market debt–equity = 524 = 4.62 . The change over
381.6 113.4
the period is: 4.62 – 0.97 = 3.65.
d. 2005 enterprise value = $381.6 – 13 + 370 = $738.6 billion. 2009 enterprise value = $113.4 – 48 + 524 =
$589.4 billion. The change over the period is: $589.4 – 738.6 = –$149.2 billion.

2-9.
18.75
a. Apple’s current ratio = =
2.68 6.99
18.75 − 0.25
b. Apple’s quick ratio = =
2.65 6.99
c. Apple has significantly more liquid assets than Dell relative to current liabilities.

Copyright ©Copyright © 2015

2015 Pearson Pearson
Canada Inc. Canada Inc.
5 Chapter32rd Canadian
Solutions Manual for Berk/DeMarzo/Stangeland • Corporate Finance, Introduction to Financial Statement Analysis
Edition 5

2-10.
75.01 × 86.67
a. ANF’s market-to-book ratio = =
4.46 1,458
20.09 ×798.22
GPS’s market-to-book ratio = = 3.09

b. In a relative sense, the market values the outlook of Abercrombie and Fitch more favourably than it does
The Gap. For every dollar of equity invested in ANF, the market values that dollar today at $4.59 versus
$3.09 for a dollar invested in the GPS. Equity investors are willing to pay relatively more today for
shares of ANF than for GPS because they expect ANF to produce superior performance in the future.

2-11.

a. Revenues (2011) = $2,852.97 million. Increase in revenues =

2,852.97
-1=
12.477% 2,536.50

553.43
b. Operating margin (2011) = = 19.398%
2,852.97
523.71
Operating margin (2010) = = 20.647%
2,536.50
382.81
Net profit margin (2011) = = 13.418%
2,852.97
623.96
Net profit margin (2010) = = 24.599%
2,536.50
Both margins decreased compared with the year before.

c. The diluted earnings per share in 2011 was $2.35. The number of shares used in this calculation of
diluted EPS was 162.6 million.

2-12.
a. Revenues in 2016 = 1.15 × 186.7 = $214.705 million.
EBIT = 4.50% × 214.705 = $9.66 million (there is no other income).
b. Net Income in 2016 = EBIT – Interest Expenses – Taxes = (9.66 – 7.7) × (1 – 26%) = $1.45 million.
æ 1.45ö
Share price = (P/E Ratio in 2015) ´ (EPS in 2016) = 25.2 ´ ç ÷ = $10.15 è
3.6ø

2-13.
a. A $10 million operating expense would be immediately expensed, increasing operating expenses by $10
million. This would lead to a reduction in taxes of 35% × $10 million = $3.5 million. Thus, earnings
would decline by 10 – 3.5 = $6.5 million. There would be no effect on next year’s earnings.
b. Capital expenses do not affect earnings directly. However, the depreciation of $2 million would appear
each year as an operating expense. With a reduction in taxes of 2 × 35% = $0.7 million, earnings would
be lower by 2 – 0.7 = $1.3 million for each of the next 5 years.

Copyright ©Copyright © 2015

2015 Pearson Pearson
Canada Inc. Canada Inc.
Another document from Scribd.com that is
random and unrelated content:
 Yet, since she was a woman and therefore a creature of unreason,
must I condemn her passion for the worthless prince to whom her royal
life was dedicate.
And here I set down the last words that Makhfi—the Hidden One—
wrote with her dying hand, and they were these—
“Yet, Makhfi, unveiled is thy secret,
Abroad all thy passion be told,
Who saw not the beauty of Yusuf
When he in the market was sold.”

and as she lived she died, lamenting that too late she had known his
hidden heart.
When she was departed a poet of Persia made these verses of her:
concerning the serenity of her spirit:
“Love sings to himself of love and the worlds dance to that music,
As wise snakes dance to the Charmer playing upon his pipe,
Love gazes on deep waters for ever dreaming his face.
Slay all my senses but hearing that I may immortally listen.
Calm every wave of my soul that it may mirror the Dream.”

And her father the Emperor, grieving, made her a glorious tomb of
marble domed and pinnacled with gold and the tower and minars roofed
with turquoise tiles. Nay, the very sand of the paths was dust of
turquoises, and about it a glorious garden where her sweet spirit might
gladden to dream in the moonlight, her griefs forgotten, her joys
completed in the ecstasy of union with the One, the Alone.
And yet—yet—thus wrote my Princess:
“If on the Day of Reckoning
God saith, ‘In due proportion I will pay
And recompense thee for thy suffering.’

“Lo, all the joys of heaven it would outweigh.

Were all God’s gladness poured upon me, yet
He would be in my debt.”

May the lights of Allah be her testimony and make bright her tomb.
For I loved her, and pray that her memory may be fragrant when I am
dust.
And very strange and secret is the heart of a woman.
THE MARRIAGE OF THE PRINCESS
 THE MARRIAGE OF THE PRINCESS

(Salutation to the Elephant-Headed God, who is the Remover of Obstacles and the Giver of
discretion, and may he enable his worshipper the Pandit Gurdit Singh to relate this story with
well-chosen words and harmonious periods that so it may enchain the hearts of all.)
Of all the lands that smile upon their lover the sun, surely the land of
Kashmir is the loveliest. All round that Valley of Beauty the mountains
stand like the guardians of a great Queen. No harsh winds may ruffle the
lakes, darkly blue as the eyes of the goddess Shri, where the lotuses
dream above their mirrored images in amazement at their own divinity,
for the shields of the eternal snows piercing even the heavens turn aside
all tempests and only a sweet and calm sunshine makes the air milk-
warm.
And because the beauty that surrounds them is absorbed by the
princesses of Kashmir until they become like the slender-waisted
beauties of the ancient poems and stories of India, radiant as the sun, fair
as the full moon mirrored in a lake dreaming of her own beauty, so are
they eagerly sought by all the Kings from North to South, and great
dowries are given for them with jewels piled high like grain in harvest,
and elephants and garments with beaten gold laid on them such as would
dazzle the eyes of the Queens of other countries. And nothing is too
much to give for their seductive beauties.
Now, at one time the King of Kashmir had a daughter, his only one,
—more exquisite than dawn blushing on the snows. She had stolen the
hue of her eyes from the blue of the lotus of the hidden lakes, and the
delicate shaping of her face was high craftsmanship of high Gods at the
work they love best. And down to the ankle rolled her midnight hair,
braided and jewelled, and Love’s own honey made her mouth a world’s
wonder of rose and pearl,—and the curves of her sweet body were
rounded as the snowdrifts of Mount Haramoukh and as pure. And even
this was not all, for what is a flower without scent and beauty without
charm? But grace went beside her like an attendant, and attraction that
none could resist was in her glance, and whoso escaped the lure of her
eyes would assuredly fall a victim to the seduction of her sweet laughter
so that only in the protection of the Gods was there safety, and it is
known that even the Gods cease their vigilance where a beautiful woman
is concerned and forget their divinity.
 Now this Princess Amra loved above all things the gardens of her
royal father, and it was her custom, forsaking the Palace, to come for
days with her women to the gardens by the lake, dwelling in the Pavilion
of the Painted Flowers and passing the days in singing and feasting,
wandering beneath the shade of the mighty chinar trees and breathing the
perfume of flowers and the coolness of the high snows.
So on a certain day she and her ladies wandered through the roses in
beauty so exquisite that the flowers swayed to behold them and the very
waters of the cascades delayed to kiss their feet, and as they did this
there came a message from the King her father that he had betrothed her
to marry the King of Jamu, and the marriage would take place in the
marriage month according to the auspicious calculations of the
astrologers. And hearing this, the Princess stopped in terror beside the
water that falls over the ripple of cut marble, and she said to her women:
“O sorrowful day! O fears that beset my heart! I who have never seen
any man save my auspicious father and brothers and the old grey-beard,
the Pundit Ram Lal,—what a fate is this! What do I know of men? How
shall I learn? O, my misery!”—and she sat herself beneath the shade of a
great chinar tree, and became inconsolable, weeping bitterly, and her
women wept with her.
So passed an hour, and at last her confidante, Lailela, a girl from
Bokhara, having dried her eyes began to look about her, and she saw that
with the written command of the King had come a small object folded in
rose silk and bound with threads of gold, and with the insatiable curiosity
of a woman she said to the weeping Princess:
“Great Lady, here is a something—I do not know what, but I guess it
to be a bridal gift from his Majesty.” And the Princess took it in her
hands and her ladies gathered about her as stars surround the moon, and
with her slender fingers and nails like little pearls she unthreaded the
knots of gold and the inner treasure was disclosed, and it was a frame of
gold filagreed and set with rubies and diamond sparks, and within it the
portrait of a young man, and written on the back of it: “The King of
Jamu.” The artist, whose skill resembled that of the Creator, had depicted
him seated on his throne of ivory inlaid with gold, and in his turban
blazed that great jewel known as the Sea of Splendour, but these did not
for one moment detain the eye, for he was himself the jewel of Kings,
young, noble, dark of hair and eyes, with amorous lips, proud yet gentle,
and a throat like the column that upholds the world, and limbs shaped for
height and strength and speed. And surely had he been a water-carrier,
men had said, “This is the son of a King.”
And as the Princess Amra looked she sighed and changed colour, and
the last tear fell from her long lashes upon the portrait, and she dried it
with her gold-bordered veil, and looked and sighed again, and lost in
thought she fell into a deep silence.
And Lailela said with sympathy:
“Surely a terrible doom, O Princess! Now had the King been an old
man, kind and paternal, it would but have been passing from the arms of
one father to another. But a young man— O, there is much to fear, and
who shall sound the deeps of their hearts?”
And the Princess slowly shook her head, not knowing what she did,
still gazing at the portrait, and Lailela continued:
“Little do we all know men. But I have been told it is safer to
adventure in a jungle of tigers than to take a husband knowing nothing of
their wiles and tyrannies, and it is now my counsel that we should all
declare before the Princess any small knowledge that has reached us, that
she may not go forth utterly unarmed.”
And all the ladies looked doubtfully at one another, and the Princess
smiled faintly as a moon in clouds, and said:
“Sisters, it is my command that you do as Lailela has said, for her
counsel is good, and she herself shall begin, for I perceive there is
knowledge behind her lips. Let all now prepare to listen, for we speak of
love.”
And she laid the portrait on her knees, and Lailela with laughter in
her long eyes but a great gravity of speech, told this story:
“Now, Princess, this is one of the parables that the Sheikh Ibrahim
related to his daughter, the Lady Budoor, that she might be admonished.
For the damsel was the temptation of the Age, with heavy hips, and
brows like the new moon, and a mouth like the seal of Suleiman, so that
the reason of whoso saw her was captivated by her elegance. But she
spoke little, or of trivial matters, and smiled not at all, relying on her
beauty, which, indeed, was the perfection of the Creator’s handiwork.
May his name be exalted! And her father accosted her, saying:
“ ‘Know, O daughter, that Shah Salim had five thousand wives and
concubines of perfect loveliness, with languishing looks, high-bosomed,
and of equal age, a delight to beholders such as astonished the mind. But
the King was wearied because of the dullness of their society and it so
befell that he yawned repeatedly and his jaw became fixed with the
violence of his yawns, nor could the art of the hakims unloose it. And the
Queens and the concubines slapped their faces for grief, and the Emirs
trembled because of the case of the King.
“ ‘Now it chanced that the King of Seljuk sent unto Shah Salim a
slave girl from Tabriz, and the merchant who conducted her bore this
message, written on ivory, bound with floss silk, and perfumed with
ambergris: “Know, O King of the Age, that the perfume is not to be
judged by the jar, nor the jewel by its weight, for the perfume is the soul
of the rose, and the secret of the jewel is its fire. Receive, therefore this
gift according to the measure of thy wisdom.”
“ ‘But the Shah-in-Shah, speaking with difficulty, for his jaw was
held as in a vise, commanded, saying; “Enclose her with the Queens and
the concubines, for they have brought me to this, and the sum of my
wisdom and experience is that they are all alike, and whoso knows one,
knows all. Yet, first let me behold her, since she is the gift of a King.”
“ ‘And they unveiled the damsel, and behold! she was slender as a
willow branch, low-bosomed, green-eyed, and her hair was like beaten
bronze, nor could she for beauty compare with the wives of the King, so
that the beholders marvelled at the gift of the King of Seljuk.
“ ‘And she looked upon the King, and, seeing his case, she closed her
eyes until they shone like slits of emerald and laughed aloud until the
Hall of Requests echoed with her laughter, and her voice was like the
flute and such as would bewilder the reason of the sages and cause the
ascetic to stumble in his righteousness, and she could narrate stories like
those of the Sultana Shahrazad (upon whom be the Peace!), and her
effrontery was as the effrontery of the donkey-boys of Damascus. For
there is none greater. Nor did she fear the Shah-in-Shah before whom all
abased themselves.
“ ‘So she seated herself before the Wonder of the Age, and, casting
down her eyes, the damsel related to him the true story of the Adventure
of the Lady Amine and the Sage El Kooz. And the heart of the Shah was
dilated and he laughed until there was no strength left in him, and the
hakims thumped his back, fearing that life itself would depart from him
in the violence of his laughter. And his jaw instantly relaxed. So being
recovered, he commanded saying: “Bring hither the artificers of gold and
let them make a chain that shall bind the waist of this slave to my wrist,
for where I go she shall go, that my soul may be comforted by her
narratives and the sweetness of her laughter. For this truly is a gift
worthy of a king. But place guards at the doors of the others.”
“ ‘And after consideration and counsel with his Wazir he bestowed
upon the Queens great gifts and returned them to their parents. And there
was a great calm. And he became distracted with love for this slave and
they continued in prosperity and affection until visited by the Terminator
of Delights and Separator of Companions.
“ ‘Extolled be He whom the vicissitudes of time change not and who
is alone distinguished by the attributes of Perfection!
“ ‘Now this is a parable, my daughter, of the secrets of the hearts of
men, and I will relate others that thou mayest be admonished.’
“And the Lady Budoor answered modestly: ‘Speak on, my father, I
listen.’ ”
And when Lailela had finished this story she resumed her seat, and
the ladies reflected deeply, and the Princess said:
“This must undoubtedly be true. As a man no longer observes an
object which he sees daily, so must it be with a man and the beauty of his
wife. Clearly it is not enough to be beautiful even as a Dancer of Heaven.
It is also needful to be a provoker of laughter. Would that I knew the
stories of this slave . . . Sisters, have they been heard by any of you?
What is beauty, when the beautiful are forsaken or die? But tell me.”
And now Vasuki, a lady of the Rajputs, stepped forward in all the
insolence of beauty, swaying her hips, and rearing her head like a Queen
as she came, and she began thus:
“Princess, of my heart, let none tempt you to undervalue the gift of
loveliness by which even the greatest of the Gods are subjected as my
story will declare. And let it be remembered that if even a man weary of
his wife’s beauty—there are yet other men in the world, and what though
our faith forbid marriage there are other faiths. And, if this be
impossible, a woman can always be captured if so she will! And I would
have you recall the story of the Rani of Mundore who being left a widow
was captured by a great King and ruled him and his Kingdom. But hear
my story of why Brahma, a high God of my people, has four faces in his
temple.
“In the ancient days in India two evil and terrible brothers rose to
kingly power. They were inseparable as the Twin Stars, the Aswins, and
together they did evil mightily and in their union was their strength.
Finally they formed plans to storm the lower heavens and expel the Gods
and there was every reason to believe they would carry out this
determination. So the Gods held a great Panchayet (council) and some
said one thing, some another, and at last Brahma the Creator spoke as
follows:
“ ‘Great Gods and Heavenly Ladies, in the union of these wretches is
their power, because where two perfectly agree their wisdom is
unconquerable. It is only because this has never been the case on earth
that we are able to keep any sort of order. Now of all influences the most
powerful is love. True it is their palaces are full to over-flowing with
handsome women but we are still the Gods, the makers of men. Let us
take for our model the Goddess of Beauty herself, and send some
exquisite one on earth to distract and divide the evil kings.’
“So the flowers of heaven were brought, and the Goddess of Beauty
stood unveiled and divine before them, and from the ivory of the lotus
blossom they made a sweet body, and from the dark blue lotus they made
two dreaming eyes, and they took the storm cloud for the glooms of her
heavy lashes, and the midnight deeps for the lengths of her silken hair,
and for her smile they took the sunshine and for her blush the dawn, and
for her coquetry the playfulness of the kitten, and for her seductions the
wiles of the serpent, and for her fidelity—but all their materials were
exhausted before the necessity for this was remembered. And Lakshimi
gave her instead what is invisible but omnipotent, her own charm which
none has ever seen but all the Universe has felt. And when all was done
great Brahma breathed life into the fair image and she arose and looked
down upon her own beauty with astonishment and in a voice of crystal
music she said:
“ ‘I am Tillotama.’
“And all the Gods stood confounded at their own handiwork but the
Goddesses turned angrily away.
“So they commanded her to go to earth and instructed her, each
mighty heart beating with agony that she should go. And she passed
before the Throne of Brahma making a pradakshina, a reverential
threefold circuit, about him keeping him always to the right. And he
gazed passionately upon her and she made a turn to the left, and for pride
he would not turn his head, but from the energy of his soul’s longing
another face sprang out on the left side of his head and the eyes still
followed her, and as she made her circuit this again happened at the back
and still he regarded her, and at the right side also, so that wherever that
loveliness went his eyes fed upon her with more passion than the moon-
bird who steadfastly regards the moon all night. And, Princess, this is the
undoubted reason why the image of Brahma has ever since had four
faces. So she went to earth with ruin for her dower, and the two evil
kings desired her and slew one another for her possession. And
Saraswati, the wife of Brahma, immediately demanded that their work
should be undone and the fair creature resolved again into the elements
of nature lest the peace of heaven should be broken. So it was done, but
Brahma retains forever his four faces.
“Therefore, Princess, if beauty thus subjugates the greatest of the
Gods, what will be the effect of such beauty as your own upon the heart
of the King of Jamu?”
And Amra clasping her hands, replied:
“But this is a terrible story! For if the greatest of the Gods, who has a
glorious Goddess for his wife, be not faithful, what hope is in men? I
grow so terrified that death itself seems preferable to marriage. Is there
no comfort in any of you?”
And now, treading delicately on little bound feet, came Ying-ning,
the fair Chinese maiden from Liang, who had been presented to the
Princess because of her skill in embroidery and cosmetics. And she
saluted humbly, and requested permission to speak:
“Princess, a great lady has last spoken and who am I? Yet because I
tremble to hear her speak of any other than a husband in the love of a
woman, hear me, for of all dangers the greatest is the jealousy of a
husband. And this is a true story of my country.
“There was a very great artificer long, long years ago and he made an
image exactly resembling a man. It was composed of wood and glue and
leather, and sinews of catgut, and so great was his skill that he made
even a heart that beat and set it in the breast, and the features were
exquisitely painted and it resembled a great Chinese lord, noble and
handsome and able to sing, move, and talk. Finally he showed it to the
King of Liang who was struck dumb at such handiwork, for it was like
the power of the Immortals. And he said; ‘My Household must certainly
view this marvel, and there can be no objection to this course of conduct
since I have satisfied myself it is but a thing of springs and leather.’
“So, on the following day, the artificer brought his image to the
Pepper Chambers, being himself an aged man and in circumstances
which permitted his entry. Being introduced to the presence of the King,
the Queen and the ladies who rejoiced in the King’s favour, these ladies
all stared with the utmost bewilderment at the handsome young man thus
represented. The artificer touched its chin and it burst into a love-song
most delicately sung in a mellow and manly voice. It recited a passage
from the poets in praise of wine. It kow-towed before the King. But
unluckily, encouraged by success, the artificer touched its heart, and with
the utmost audacity it gazed upon the ladies and winking one eye, seized
the hand of the loveliest, and placed a sacrilegious arm about her person,
she smiling. A frenzy of passion swept over the King on seeing this. He
shouted for the death of the artificer, and though the aged man in a terror
instantly rent the image apart into a heap of wood and leather, he could
not be appeased and the unfortunate was led out and beheaded.
Furthermore, he ordered the lady who had been thus polluted to be
instantly strangled because she had not shrieked on the instant as (he
asserted) any virtuous woman, a stranger to such a contact, must have
done. And in spite of her piteous entreaties she was slaughtered. Was this
reasonable, O my Princess? But be it known to you that in love and in
possession also there is no reason, and that this is the manner in which
all men would act. And moreover it is their right, and it is entirely just
that even the looks or dreams of a woman should be faithful to her
husband and to him only.”
And Ying-ning retreated to the circle, and the Princess wrung her
hands and cried:
“What then is to become of women if they are thus surrendered to the
mercy of the merciless! I will entreat at my father’s feet that I may live
and die a maid. And I will——”
But she could not continue for the beating of her heart, and now the
little lovely gesang, Pak, from Phyong-yang in the Land of the Morning
Calm, whence come all the fairest singing girls, moved trembling
forward and spoke in a voice of silver, but so low that the Princess called
upon her to stand at her feet that she might hear. Enclosed in a great lotus
blossom she had been presented to the Princess that she might cheer her
with strange dances from the Korean land, and she had clapped her
hands for joy when the ivory petals fell apart disclosing the small dancer
crouched within. But the women of the Morning Calm have few words
and all now leaned forward to hear what this silent one might say.
“Great Lady, near my home by the Green Duck River lived long ago
a Yang-ban (noble) who had a beautiful daughter named Ha. She had a
slender throat on which was set a face most delicately painted and of
exquisite charm, the lips resembling ripe cherries and the eyes of liquid
brilliance. Many marriage enquiries were made, but her father finally
made the choice of a young Yang-ban of good position named Won
Kiun, and on a day of favourable omens she was borne to his house and
became his wife. For five years they lived together in harmony nor did
he spend his time without the screened apartments, for she could even
play chess and he could converse with her. But alas! she bore no child
and daily did her anguish increase, for she could hear his sighs because
he had no son to perform the rites for him when his time should come.
Still hoping, she delayed, but this could not last, and on a certain day she
approached him saying:
“ ‘Lord of my Life, may your worthless wife speak?’
“He gave permission.
“ ‘Five years,’ said Ha, ‘have gone by and I have not fulfilled my
duty. It is certainly the evil destiny of your worthless wife which has
caused this. Therefore I say thus:—I will sell my pins of jade and buy a
concubine for you. Accede to my humble request.’
“Won Kiun could scarcely hide his astonishment, for though this was
but fulfilling a duty, still it is not common for a wife to make this offer.
But he agreed instantly for he earnestly desired a son, and after so many
years naturally desired also a change of companionship. Ha therefore
made search and found a girl named A-pao of as much beauty as the
price she could pay would fetch.
“It was then that Ha’s sorrows began. She was neglected by Won
Kiun, tormented by A-pao, but enduring in silence as a wife should, she
went about her work with a smile. But A-pao also failed in her duty for
there was no child, and presently Won Kiun whose health had always
been frail, departed to the ancestral spirits, A-pao shamelessly took her
place in the house of a rich man, and Ha was left a desolate widow, and
the more so because her parents and her husband’s justly despised her as
a barren wife.
“But, Princess, mark what followed!
“She had placed her husband’s spirit tablet, which contained his third
soul, beside her bed, and before this made her offerings of bread and
wine and prayers for pardon, and one night when she had wept herself to
sleep a strange thing happened. The tablet moved,—a human figure
slowly emerged from it and stood on the floor, and Ha, with eyes
distended with terror, saw her husband. In the well-remembered voice he
said:
 “ ‘I have permission from the Junior Board of the Gods of Hades to
visit you as a reward for my filial merit on earth, and this in spite of your
conduct in that very mistaken business of A-pao. Had I been consulted
she was by no means the person I should have chosen. Yet I am come to
visit you and shall do so nightly for a month.’
“The faithful Ha laid her head on his feet and sobbed for joy. What a
reward! How small now did all her many sacrifices appear!
“For a month the spirit tablet nightly became her husband, and on the
last day of the month he bid her an eternal farewell, and the tablet fell to
the ground and broke into two pieces. With tender care she mended it,
and set herself to await the birth of her son.
“In due time he was born and her cup of joy would have run over but
that the most shocking rumours were spread by A-pao and her mother-
in-law, and it was believed that she had grossly dishonoured the fragrant
memory of her husband. Vainly she explained the facts. The only result
was that the magistrate, fearing lest he might possibly destroy a child of
miracle, would not himself put it to death, but commanded it should be
flung to the swine. Marvellous to tell, the swine, instead of devouring it,
kept the child alive by breathing warmth upon it, and it was then that,
starving for food, and broken-hearted, Ha demanded a test before the
assembled people. It is well known that the children of the spirits cast no
shadow, and the child, before an immense crowd, with his miserable
mother watching from behind a curtain, was brought into the full
sunshine and held up. To the amazement and fear of all, no shadow was
cast on the earth. To set the matter forever at rest the spirit tablet was
then brought out and a little blood drawn from the tender arm of the
child. This was spread on the tablet inhabited by the father’s spirit and it
instantly sank in and disappeared, though when spread on another, it
rolled off, leaving no mark. Amid loud shouts the child was pronounced
the true heir of the family. Ha was immediately pardoned by the parents
of Won Kiun and taken into their favour, being permitted to serve them
to the end of their days, which she did with perfect devotion.
“My Princess will see from this true story the great reward that
humility and patience bring to a good wife. It is not every husband who
returns from the Land of the Dead to bring joy to one in such a lowly
position. And though it is easy to be seen that it was his own
transcendent merits which occasioned this joyful result, without the
patience of Ha the nobility of her husband and his parents could scarcely
have been rewarded. Therefore the duty of a woman is submission and
where this exists all her follies and faults may be covered as a rich
brocade covers a poor divan.”
The ladies were silent and the Princess again shook her head with
tears in her eyes.
“This is a difficult case,” she said, “and in truth each seems more
alarming than the last. It appears that marriage is a sea of perils great and
terrible, and to escape shipwreck all but impossible. Possibly if Ha had
not bought the concubine—but have none of my ladies a story of man’s
fidelity? Is such a thing unknown?”
And even as she spoke a woman with a face like the dusk of the
evening and eyes as its stars in clouds, broke in upon her words
unmannerly but with such power that all turned to listen, forgetting even
the Presence.
“My Princess, my beloved, hear now this last story, for these women
have spoken of little things, but I will speak of great.
“It is known to you that when the King Rama ruled in Kosala and
was thence driven for awhile into the wild woods, there went with him of
her own choice and in utter devotion, his wife, young and lovely and
noble, the Queen Sita. And when he entreated her to leave him because
of the horror of the great woods and the wild beasts, and the evil spirits
and hunger and poverty, she replied only: ‘How should I stay in the
glorious city when my husband is gone? I count all evils as blessings
when I am with him. Without him life is death. And if my prayer is
refused I will enter the fire and await him in the Paradise to be.’
“So she followed Rama, clothed in poverty and in the wood she
served him, unfaltering in piety and all wifely duty. And as the result of
this nobility her beauty so grew that the very Gods, passing on their high
errands would pause for joy to see her perfections.
“But on a certain day when the King was absent, the evil King of
Lanka stole this Pearl, hoping to set it in his crown.
“Princess, it is not needful to tell the sorrows of Sita, the temptations
she resisted nor the cruelties that could not break her pure will. Flawless
in strength and brightness as the very spirit of the diamond was her faith.
And when Rama at last, by the aid of the Gods, conquered the evil-doer,
she sat beneath a tree, in poor array, trembling for joy to think that her
head should lie once more upon her husband’s breast and her ear be
gladdened with his praise for the fight she had fought alone in sorrow.
 “So she stood before him and he sat upon his victorious throne and
thus he spoke:
“ ‘Lady, my work is done. I have avenged my honour and the insult
put upon me and my foe is broken. But mistake me not. It was for no
love to you that I fought, but to uphold the dignity of my race. Your
presence now hurts me as light hurts a diseased eye. Another man has
seen your face unveiled. His hand has touched you. You have dwelt in
his palace. You are no wife of mine. Go where you will. Do what you
will. We are parted.’ ”
[And the Princess and all the ladies stared with great eyes to hear
what the woman told.]
“And this before a great assembly. So, at first the Queen wept
silently, because this shaft pierced her very heart. Then, drying her tears,
she raised her fair head and answered:
“ ‘Is all my faithful love forgotten? It was hard for a weak woman to
resist supernatural strength. Yet in all perils of death and shame I have
been utterly chaste in soul and body, and no evil came near me, for in me
there was none to meet it.’
“She paused and the King made no answer. And she said:
“ ‘If man deserts me the High Gods are faithful. Make ready the
funeral pile. I will not live in this shame.’
“And it was done;—none daring to look in the King’s face, and he
still silent. . . . So, circling her husband thrice in farewell reverence, the
Queen entered the fire. And even as the flame lapped her feet, the Great
Gods descended in radiant chariots plumed for the untrodden ways of the
air, and the God of the Fire, who is the Purifier, took her by the hand and
presented her to Rama, saying,
“ ‘Even as is my white flame purity, so is the purity of this Queen.’
“And he accepted her from the God’s hand.
“Princess, would not all the world believe that after this coming of
the Gods this King would have honoured his Queen? Yet no.
“He knew her pure, but, since others whispered that another had seen
her face, and who could tell?—again he dismissed her for in him as in all
men, pride was mightier than love.
“And once more, Sita, standing before him and knowing this the end,
made declaration of her chastity that all might hear. And suddenly
transported beyond the weakness of a woman, she stood as one divine,
perfect in high soul and nobility, and she said:
“ ‘Never has any thought that was not pure and chaste entered my
heart, and as my heart so is my body. This have I said. And now, I
beseech of the Earth, the Great Goddess, Mother of us all, that she will
grant me a refuge, for I have none other.’
“And as she spoke these words, a very soft air, laden with coolness
and sacred perfumes, stirred among them, and in the silence there arose
from the earth a Throne and upon it the Mighty Mother of men and
Gods, and she raised the Queen in her arms and set her upon the Throne
that all might see her throned and glorious. And lo! for a moment she sat
majestic, and the assembly hid their faces, and when they again raised
them all was gone and only the common day was about them.
“But the King wept uncomforted knowing that never again by city or
forest might he see that fair face, which being his own he had cast from
him.”
And the woman paused, and all the ladies cried that this was the
cruellest story of all, demanding that she be dismissed from the Presence
as an offender. But the Princess sat submerged in thought, and the
woman said softly:
“My Princess—my beloved,—the Gods rule. In all life is sorrow,
whether in Kashmir or Jamu. But the Gods abide. In the hollow of Their
hand lay this Queen, and in the darkness the King’s eyes could not pierce
They smiled. Certainly she leaned on Their might and so walked content
and what could man do to her? Fear not, my Princess. The Gods abide—
whether in Kashmir or Jamu, and the earth is Their footstool. And this
being so the life of a woman is her own, go where she will.”
And there fell a great silence and she who said this glided away and
was gone. And presently the Princess rose in the midst of the women like
a Queen, and she spoke:
“This is the truth. Fate is fate and love is love, and what we do is our
own, and not the deeds of another. For that Queen I do not weep, but for
the King who was blind to her glory. It is the valour of men that sends
them forth to war, and it is the valour of women that puts their hearts in
the hand of their husbands. And to me, since I have seen this portrait all
other things are empty, and if he slay me still will I love him. For it is the
High God, who is worshipped by many names, who has made the
woman for the man and the man for the woman, and He abides
unchanging in Unity and what He does is better than well.”
And as she spoke the colours faded on the mountains and on the lake
the evening came with quiet feet.

THE WISDOM OF THE ORIENT

A DIALOGUE AND A STORY
 THE WISDOM OF THE ORIENT

A DIALOGUE AND A STORY

I
“I believe you take as long to dress as I do,” she said pettishly; “I call
it neither more nor less than poaching when a man looks so well turned
out. And a Poet, too! Well—you can sit down; I have twenty minutes
free.”
She was dressed for a bridge party. Dressed—oh, the tilt of the hat
over her delicate little nose; the shadow it cast over the liquid eyes,
ambushing them, as it were, for the flash and spring upon the victim! But
I was no victim—not I! I knew my young friend too well. She endured
me more or less gladly. I sat at her feet and learned the ways of the sex,
and turned them into verse, or didn’t, according to the mood of the
minute. I had versified her more than once. She was a rondeau, a triolet,
a trill—nothing more.
“Why mayn’t a poet look respectable as well as another?” I asked,
dropping into a chair.
“Because it isn’t in the picture. You were much more effective, you
folks, when you went about with long hair, and scowled, with a finger on
your brows. But never mind—you’ve given us up and we’ve given you
up, so it doesn’t matter what women think of you any more.”
“You never said a truer word!” I replied, lighting my cigarette at
hers. “The connection between women and poetry is clean-cut for the
time. As for the future—God knows! You’re not poetic any more. And
it’s deuced hard, for we made you.”
“Nonsense. God made us, they say—or Adam—I never quite made
out which.”
“It’s a divided responsibility, anyhow. For the Serpent dressed you.
He knew his business there—he knew that beauty unadorned may do
well enough in a walled garden and with only one to see and no one else
to look at. But in the great world, and with competition—no! And you—
you little fools, you’re undoing all his charitable work and undressing
yourselves again. When I was at the dance the other night I thirsted for
the Serpent to take the floor and hiss you a lecture on your stupidities.”
 She pouted: “Stupidities? I’m sure the frocks were perfectly lovely.”
“As far as they went, but they didn’t go nearly far enough for the
Serpent. And believe me, he knows all the tricks of the trade. He wants
mystery—he wants the tremble in the lips when a man feels—‘I can’t see
—I can only guess, and I guess the Immaculate, the Exquisite—the silent
silver lights and darks undreamed of.’ And you—you go and strip your
backs to the waist and your legs to the knees. No, believe me, the Dark
Continent isn’t large enough; and when there is nothing left to explore,
naturally the explorer ceases to exist.”
“I think you’re very impertinent. Look at Inez. Wasn’t she perfectly
lovely? She can wear less than any of us, and wear it well.”
“I couldn’t keep my eyes off her, if you mean that. But not along the
Serpent line of thought. It was mathematical. I was calculating the
chances for and against, all the time—whether that indiscreet rose-leaf in
front would hold on. Whether the leaf at the back would give. At last I
got to counting. She’s laughing—will it last till I get to five-and-twenty?
thirty? And I held on to the switches to switch off the light if it gave. The
suspense was terrific. Did she hold together after midnight? I left then.”
“I won’t tell you. You don’t deserve to hear,” she said with dignity.
A brief silence.
“What do you mean by saying you poets made us?” she began again,
pushing the ash-tray toward me.
“Well, you know, as a matter of fact people long ago didn’t believe
you had any souls.”
“Rot!”
“I shouldn’t think of contradicting you, my dear Joan, but it’s a fact.”
“Oh, the Turks, and heathen like that.”
“Well, no—the Church. The Fathers of the Church, met in solemn
council, remarked you had no souls. It was a long time ago, however.”
“They didn’t!”
“They did. They treated you as pretty dangerous little animals, with
snake’s blood in you. Listen to this: ‘Chrysostom’—a very distinguished
saint—‘only interpreted the general sentiment of the Fathers when he
pronounced woman to be a necessary evil, a natural temptation, a
desirable calamity, a domestic peril, a deadly fascination, a painted ill.’
You see you had found the way to the rouge-box even then.”
 “I shouldn’t wonder if they were right,” she said, incredibly. “I’ve
often doubted whether I’ve a soul myself. And I’m sure Inez hasn’t.”
I shrugged my shoulders.
“At all events, the poets thought you were not as pretty without one.
We disagreed with the Church. We always have. So we took you in hand.
Your soul was born, my dear Joan, in Provence, about the year 1100.”
She began to be a little interested, but looked at her tiny watch—grey
platinum with a frosty twinkle of diamonds.
“Go on. I’ve ten minutes more.”
“Well—we were sorry for you. We were the Troubadours of
Provence, and we found you kicked into the mud by the Church, flung
out into the world to earn your bread in various disreputable ways—by
marriage, and otherwise. You simply didn’t exist. We found your
beautiful dead body in the snow and mud. And we picked you up and
warmed you and set you on a throne all gold and jewels. Virtually, you
never breathed until we wrote poems about you.”
“Jewels! We have always liked jewels,” she sighed.
“We gave you a wonderful crown first, all white and shining. We
made you Queen of Heaven, and then even the Church had to eat humble
pie and worship you, for you were Mary. We did that—we only. But that
wasn’t enough. You opened your eyes, and grew proud and spoiled, and
heaven was by no means enough. You wanted more. You would be
Queen of Earth, too. And we did it! We gave you a crown of red jewels,
—red like heart’s blood,—and we put a sceptre in your hand, and we fell
down and worshipped you. And you were Venus. And you have been
Queen of Europe and the New World ever since.”
“Of Europe only? Not of Asia? Why not?”
“Oh, they are much too old and wise in Asia. They are much wiser
than we. Wiser than the Church. Wiser than the poets—than any of us.”
“What do they say?”
“Well—let’s think. That you have your uses—uses. That you are
valuable in so far as you bear children and are obedient to your
husbands. That, outside that, your beauty has its uses also within limits
that are rather strictly marked. That in many rebirths you will develop
your soul and be immortal; if you behave, that is! If not—then who shall
say? But you have your chance all the time. With them you are neither
goddess or fiend. You are just women. Not even Woman.”
 “What ghastly materialism!”
“No, no! The happy mean. The perfect wisdom. Meanwhile, you
yourselves are all hunting after the ideals of the market-place, the
platform, the pulpit. I wonder how many extra rebirths it will cost you!
Never mind. Time is long. The gods are never in a hurry, and you will
arrive even if you only catch the last train.”
“But this is all fault-finding, and unfair at that. Will you have the
goodness to advise? If we stick on our pedestals, you all run off to the
frivolers. If we frivol, you weep for the pedestal. What is it you really
want? If we knew, we’d try to deliver the goods, I’m sure.”
“I’m not!” I said, and reflected. Then, gathering resolution, “Have
you the patience to listen to a story?”
“If it’s a good one. How long will it take?”
“Ten minutes. The author is the Serpent.”
“Then I’ll certainly put off Inez for fifteen minutes. Who’s it
about?”—running to the telephone.
“Eve, Lilith, Adam.”
“Who was Lilith?”
“Adam’s first love.”
She sat down, her eyes dancing, her lips demure; the prettiest
combination!
“I didn’t know he had one. But I might have guessed. They always
have. Go on!”
I went on, and this is the story.

II

“You were speaking of the pedestal. That, of course, was invented in

Eden; for Adam early recognized the convenience of knowing where to
leave your women and be certain of finding them on your return. So he
made the pedestal, decorated it, burned incense before it, and went away
upon his own occasions; and when Eve had finished her housekeeping
(you may remember, Milton tells us what good little dinners she
provided for Adam), she would look bored, climb upon the pedestal
obediently, and stand there all day, yawning and wondering what kept
him away so long.
 “Now, on a memorable day, the Serpent came by, and stopped and
looked up at the Lady of the Garden,—who naturally assumed a
statuesque pose,—and there was joy in his bright little eyes. But all he
said was, ‘May I ask if you find this amusing?’
“And Eve replied, ‘No, not at all. But it is the proper place for a
lady.’
“And the Serpent rejoined: ‘Why?’
“And Eve reflected and answered: ‘Because Adam says so.’
“So the Serpent drew near and whispered in his soft sibilant voice:
‘Have you ever heard of Lilith? She does not stand on a pedestal. She
gardens with Adam. To be frank, she is a cousin of my own.’
“And this made Eve extremely angry, and she replied sharply: ‘I
don’t know what you mean. He and I are alone in Eden. There’s no such
person as Lilith. You are only a serpent when all’s said and done. What
can you know?’
“And the Serpent replied very gently,—and his voice was as soothing
as the murmur of a distant hive of bees,—‘I am only a Serpent, true! But
I have had unusual opportunities of observation. Come and eat of the
Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. Long ages ago I tasted the Fruit.
The savour of my teeth is sweet on it still.’
“Eve hesitated, and she who hesitates is lost.
“ ‘I own I should like to know about this Lilith,’ she said. ‘But we
were told that fruit is unripe, and I don’t like bitter things. Is it bitter?’
“And the Serpent narrowed his eyes until they shone like slits of
emerald.
“ ‘Sweet!’ he said; ‘come.’
“So she descended from the pedestal, and, guided by the Serpent,
stood before that wondrous Tree where every apple shines like a star
among its cloudy leaves. And she plucked one, and, tasting it, flung the
rest angrily at the Serpent, because it was still a little unripe; and having
tasted the Fruit Forbidden, she returned to the pedestal, pondering, with
the strangest new thoughts quickening in her brain.
“If Adam noticed anything when he came back that evening, it was
only that Eve was a little more silent than usual, and forgot to ask if the
thornless roses were striking root. She was thinking deeply, but there
were serious gaps in her knowledge.
 “The first result of her partial enlightenment was that, though she
now only used the pedestal as a clothes-peg and spent all her spare time
in stalking Adam and Lilith, she always scrambled up in hot haste when
he returned. He could be certain of finding her there when he expected
to, and he made a point of that because, as he said,—
“ ‘No truly nice woman would ever want to leave it and go
wandering about the Garden. It does not do for a respectable woman to
be seen speaking even to an Archangel nowadays, so often does the
Devil assume the form of an Angel of Light. You never can tell. And
besides, there is always the Serpent, who, in my opinion, should never
have been admitted.’
“Eve said nothing, which was becoming a habit. She only folded her
little hands meekly and accepted the homage paid to the pedestal with
perfect gravity and decorum. He never suspected until much later that
she knew what a comparatively interesting time Lilith was having, and
had indeed called on that lady at the other end of the Garden, with
friendly results. She was well aware that Lilith’s footing on the garden
paths was much more slippery and unsafe than her own on the pedestal.
Still, there were particulars which she felt would be useful.
“When Adam realized the facts, he realized also that he was face to
face with a political crisis of the first magnitude. If they fraternized,
those two, of such different characters and antecedents, there was
nothing they could not know—nothing they might not do! The pedestal
was rocking to its very foundation. The gardening with Lilith must end.
She would demand recognition; Eve would demand freedom. It might
mean a conspiracy—a boycott. What was there it might not mean? He
scarcely dared to think. Eden was crumbling about him.
“It was a desperate emergency, and as he sat with a racking head,
wishing them both in—Paradise, the Serpent happened along.
“ ‘Surely you look a little harassed,’ he said, stopping.
“Adam groaned.
“ ‘Is it as bad as all that?’ the Serpent asked, sympathetically.
“ ‘Worse.’
“ ‘What have they been at?’ asked the Serpent.
“ ‘They each know too much, and they will soon know more,’ he
rejoined gloomily. ‘Knowledge is as infectious as potato blight.’
 “The Serpent replied with alacrity: ‘In this dreadful situation you
must know most. It is the only remedy. Come and eat at once of the Fruit
of the Tree. I have never understood why you did not do that the moment
the Rib took shape.’
“And Adam, like Eve asked: ‘Is it sweet?’
“So the Serpent narrowed his eyes till they shone like slits of ruby,
and said, ‘Bitter, but appetizing. Come.’
“And Adam replied: ‘I like bitters before dinner.’
“We all know what happened then; with the one exception that, as a
matter of fact, he found the apple a little overripe, too sweet, even
cloying; and not even swallowing what he had tasted, he threw the rest
away.
“It is just as well to have this version, for it must have been always
perfectly clear that Eve, having tasted the apple and thus acquired a
certain amount of wisdom, could never have desired to share it with
Adam. [“I have thought that myself,” murmured Joan.] No, it was the
Serpent’s doing in both cases; though naturally Adam blamed Eve when
the question was raised, for she had begun it.
“But what was the result? Well, there were several. It has, of course,
been a trial of wits between Adam, Eve, and Lilith ever since. But, in
tasting, he had learned one maxim which the Romans thought they
invented thousands of years later. It flashed into his mind one day, when
he saw the two gathering roses together and found his dinner was half an
hour late in consequence. It was simply this: Divide and Rule.
Combined, he could never manage them; the sceptre was daily slipping
from his hand. Divided, he could. So he put the maxim in practice and
sowed division and distrust between Eve and Lilith. They ceased to visit
each other, and were cuts when they met. And, naturally, after the
Eviction the meetings ceased entirely.
“You will have understood before this, my dear Joan, that Adam was
the first mortal to realize the value of competition. He now became the
object of spirited competition between the two. Each in her own way
outbid the other to secure his regard. Eve’s domestic virtues grew
oppressive; Lilith’s recklessness alarming. And it will readily be seen
why women have pursued men, rather than the other way over, as we see
it in the lower walks of creation.”
“Don’t prose,” said Joan. “What happened?”
 “Well, in the last few years, the Serpent, who is always upsetting
things, happened along again, and found Eve balancing in extreme
discomfort on the pedestal, and Lilith resting, exhausted, after a
particularly hard day’s pursuit of Adam. And between them was a wall
of icy silence.
“He paused and said with his usual courtesy, ‘Ladies, you both seem
fatigued. Is it permitted to ask the reason?’ And his voice had all the
murmuring of all the doves of Arcady.
“And Lilith replied angrily: ‘I’m sick of hunting Adam. I always
catch him and always know I shall. And he wants to be caught, and yet
insists on being hunted before he gives me the rewards. Who can keep up
any interest in a game like that? If it were not for Eve, who would take
up the running if I dropped it, he might go to Gehenna for me!’ ”
“Oh, how true! I like Lilith best!” whispered Joan. She was not
smoking now.
“ ‘Strong, but pardonable,’ said the Serpent. ‘And you, dear Lady?’
“And Eve, casting a jealous scowl at Lilith, replied: ‘I’m weary of
this abominable pedestal. If you had stood on it off and on for five
thousand years, you would realize the cramp it means in the knees. But I
daren’t get off, for Adam says no truly nice woman ever would leave it,
and it pleases him. If it were not for Lilith, who would be upon it in two
seconds, I should be off it in less. And then where should I be? She will
go on hunting him, and of course he must have quiet at home.’
“ ‘And you will go on standing on your imbecile pedestal, and of
course such boredom makes him restless abroad,’ retorted the other.
“In the momentary silence that ensued, the Serpent looked up at
Lilith and narrowed his eyes till they shone like slits of amethyst.
“ ‘My cousin,’ he said, ‘our family was old when Adam was created.
He is poor game.’
“ ‘Nobody knows that better than I,’ said Lilith tartly. ‘What do you
suppose I hunt him for?’
“ ‘What, indeed!’ said the Serpent, hissing softly.
“ ‘Because of Eve—that only!’ she flashed at him. ‘She never shall
triumph over me. And what there is to give, he has.’
“He turned to Eve, narrowing his eyes till they shone like slits of fire.
“ ‘And you stand cramped on this pedestal, beloved Lady?’
 “ ‘Because of Lilith—that only! She, at all events, shall not have him.
And think of his morals!’ ”
(“Aha!” said Joan, with intense conviction.)
“The Serpent mused and curved his shining head toward Eve.
“ ‘If you will allow me to say so, I have always regretted that you
never finished that apple, and that my cousin Lilith has never tasted it at
all,’ he murmured. ‘A little knowledge is a dangerous thing, as certain
also of your own poets have said.’
“ ‘I have sometimes thought so, too,’ Eve replied mournfully; ‘and
there is a word that now and then flashes across my brain like an echo
from the past, but I can never quite recall it. It might explain matters.
Still, it is no use talking. That apple rotted long ago, and if the Tree is
still growing, which I doubt, there is always a guard of flying infantry at
the Gate. It is easier to get out than in where Eden is concerned.’
“The Serpent smiled blandly.
“ ‘You have evidently forgotten that, by arrangement with the
Governing Body, I have always free ingress and egress. Look here!’
“He unfolded his iridescent coils, and there lay within them—
shining, mystic, wonderful, against his velvet bloom—two Apples.
“There was no hesitation, for each was equally weary of Adam’s
requirements; and, snatching each an Apple, they ate.
“But the Fruit has grown bitter since the days of the Garden. There is
nothing so bitter as knowledge. Their lips were wried, and the tears
came, and still they ate until not an atom remained. The Serpent
watched. For a moment each stared upon the other, trembling like a
snared bird, wild thoughts coming and going in the eyes of the Barren
Woman and the Mother of all Living. Then Eve stretched out her arms,
and Lilith flung herself into them, and they clung together, weeping.
“And the Serpent opened his eyes until they shone like sun, moon,
and stars all melted into one; and he said, ‘Ladies, the word you are
seeking is, I think, Combination.’ And smiling subtly, he went away.
“So Eve descended from her pedestal and trampled it; and Lilith
broke the rod of her evil enchantments; and they walked hand in hand,
blessing the world.
“Adam meanwhile was shooting,—big game, little game,—and,
amid the pressure of such important matters, never paid any attention to
this trifle. But this was the beginning of what will be the biggest trade-
union the world will ever see. All the women who matter will be within
it, and the black-legs outside will be the women who don’t count. So
now you see why men will not much longer have a run (literally) for
their money. Adam may have to put up with it, for he never ate the Apple
as Eve and Lilith have done, and therefore does not know so much about
the things of real importance. Unless indeed the Serpent— But we won’t
think of that until it happens.
“Now, my dear Joan, whether all this is a good or a bad thing, who
can tell? The Serpent undoubtedly shuffled the cards; and who the
Serpent is and what are his intentions, are certainly open questions.
Some believe him to be the Devil, but the minority think his true name is
Wisdom. All one really can say is that the future lies on the knees of the
gods, and that among all men the Snake is the symbol of Knowledge,
and is therefore surrounded with fear and hatred.
“Now that’s the story, and don’t you think there’s a kind of moral?”
I waited for a comment. Joan was in deep meditation.
“Do you know,” she said slowly, “it’s the truest thing I ever heard.
It’s as true as taxes. But where do you come in?”
“I wasn’t thinking of us,” I said hurriedly. “I merely meant—if you
wished to be more attractive——”
“Attractive!”—with her little nose in the air. “I guess it’s you that
will have to worry about your attractions, if that comes along. I won’t
waste any more time on you to-day. I’ve got to think this out, and talk it
out, too, with Inez and Janet.”
She rose and began to pull on her gloves, but absently.
I felt exactly like a man who has set a time-fuse in a powder
magazine. The Serpent himself must have possessed me when I
introduced his wisdom to a head cram-full of it already.
“It’s the merest nonsense, Joan. It isn’t in the Talmud. The Serpent
never thought of it. I made it all up.”
“You couldn’t. It isn’t in you. Or, if you did, it was an inspiration
from on high.”
“From below,” I said weakly.
She smiled to herself—a dangerous smile.
“I must go. And you really were a little less dull than usual. Come
again on Tuesday. The moral of it all is, so far, that the poets are really
worth cultivating. I will begin with you!”
 She flashed away like a humming bird, and I retired, to read my
Schopenhauer. But the serious question is—shall I go on Tuesday?

STATELY JULIA
A STORY OF ENCHANTMENTS
 STATELY JULIA

A STORY OF ENCHANTMENTS

(A letter from Mr. Amyand Tylliol to his friend, Mr. Endymion Porter at the Court of his
Majesty, King Charles the First.)
To my kind and constant friend, that lover of the Muses, Mr.
Endymion Porter, to whose understanding heart all confidences may be
carried, these presents to bring my news.
Since you marvel at the delay of your humble servant needs must I
tell you of a singular hap which hath befallen. Yet no hurt, therefore be
not distrest, for all is well. And truth it is that I have met a most
ingenious gentleman, and this is the marrow of what I would say.
For, prospering in my journey, I did reach Exeter, and there in the
shadow of the Cathedral Church, transacted my affair with Mr. Delander
as foreseen. And a right fair and noble church it is, rich beyond
imagining with images of kings and bishops, queens and holy martyrs.
From Mr. Stephen Delander (who quarters the arms of Tylliol with
his own from an alliance in the days of Queen Elizabeth of blessed
memory, and therefore calls cousin with me) have I received most
hospitable entertainment, and noble conversation enriched with such
sparkling gems of poesy and rhetoric as cannot be told in words. And
hence is he become my singular good friend and as such to be
remembered and cherished. His house lies in the Cathedral precincts and
is by all the city known as Domus Domini, the Lord’s House, since it
belonged to the foundation of the Cathedral in days now like to be
forgot.
And ’tis a house delightful to the fancy, in a very small garden set
with a few sombre trees, enlightened with clove-gilly flowers and roses,
and box hedges with winding walks among the turf. Within, deep-
windowed, with grave and handsome plenishing and great store of books
clothing the walls, and all of a sober discretion that bespeaks a
gentleman of lineage and parts. And over it towers the cathedral church
the which (looking upward) appears to swim in the blue as though native
to the skies, and sheds from its mighty bells a voice of warning over the
clustering city with every passing hour, for a memento mori.
 A place indeed for the feeding of pensive musing and the relishing of
the fair-zoned Muses even as in the groves of Academe.
So, business concluded, ’twas the habit of Mr. Delander and myself
to sit in the oriel commanding the cathedral and to hold sweet discourse,
with a flagon of right Canary between us, and from one of these
exchanges sprang my delay.
For he, talking of the writing of the rare Master Ben Jonson, spoke as
follows:
“A poet indeed, but sure Mr. Tylliol, being a lover of verse and a
trafficker in its niceties, knows we have here in this rude Devonshire a
poet—nay, what say I?—the poet of women and flowers and elves that
skip by moonlight, with like delights of the phantasy, such as rare Ben or
even the rarer Master Shakespeare cannot excel?”
“Lord, sir!” says I. “I stand amazed. I knew it not. Who may the
gentleman be?”
“I would not have you think,” he responded, “that this gentleman
hath the choir note of our young Milton, nor yet the plenteous invention
of Will Shakespeare. ’Tis a country Muse, but exquisite. A muse withal
that hath been to town and drest her lovely limbs in lawns and silks, and
wears pomander beads in her bosom. A Muse whose blush is claret and
cream commingled. And as I said, exquisite. A voice of Castaly.”
“And what does the gentleman in the wilds and what is he?” asked I,
a-tip-toe with curiosity, for well you know my passion for these rarities.
And hastily I added:
“Hath your honour any taste or relish of his verse at hand to whet my
appetite? For with poetry as with manners—from one can all be told.”
He mused a moment smiling, then recited thus:
“TO A LADY SINGING

“So smooth, so sweet, so silvery is thy voice

As, could they hear, the damned would make no noise,
But listen to thee walking in thy chamber,
Melting melodious words to lutes of amber.”

“O rare!” cried I, clapping my hands. “A right music, like drops of

honey distilling from the comb. Was this a happy chance, or may the
gentleman summon the delicate Ariel when he will?”
He smiled, indulgent:
“Since you compare the lines with honey, hear yet again.” I sat elate.
 “As Julia once a-sleeping lay
It chanced a bee did fly that way.
For some rich flower he took the lip
Of Julia, and began to sip.
But when he felt he sucked from thence
Honey (and in the quintessence)
He drank so much he scarce could stir
And Julia took the pilferer!

“Sweet Lady-flower, I never brought

Hither the least one thieving thought.
But taking those rare lips of yours
For some fresh fragrant luscious flowers,
I thought I there might take a taste
Where so much sirop ran to waste.
Besides, know this,—‘I never sting
The flower that gives me nourishing.’
This said, he laid his little scrip
Of honey ’fore her Ladyship,
And told her (as some tears did fall)
That this he took and that was all.
At which she smiled and bade him go
And take his bag; but this much know
When next he came a-pilfering so,
He should from her full lips derive
Honey enough to fill his hive.”

“ ’Tis a pure seed-pearl,” said I. “Small but Orient. And now, Mr.
Delander my worthy friend, tell me where hides this shepherd of the
enchanted pipe, for if, as you say, in Devon, then Devon I will not quit
till with these tickling ears have I listened to his sweet pipings. And if
Julia be his neighbour, as we may suppose— O, sir, speak by the cards
and tell me true!”
“There is,” he responded, “in this His Majesty’s shire of Devon, a
very savage forest, yet with no trees,—known as the Forest of Dartmoor.
And well may I call it savage, for there do savages harbour that would
make as little to slit a man’s throat and cast him in a slough as I to toss
this nut-shell. Of the roads to these parts, least said soonest mended—
sooner indeed than they. But know that around this execrable miscreant
of a Dartmoor lie little lovely villages full of a sweet civility of flowers
and hives of bees, and kine and pretty maids to milk ’em. And above all
there is one called Dean Prior and of this the spiritual shepherd is Mr.
Robert Herrick.”
“Sure his crook is wreathed with roses and the pretty lambs of the
flock have nought to fear from their shepherd,” says I.